Page 52 of The Don's Secret Heir

“He.. he wasn’t?” I can’t believe I’m so interested. I want to know everything, what Dario was like before he met me, what his relationships were like...

“Not at all. In fact, he and Giovanni used to swap girls around.”

I wrinkle my nose. I don’t want to knowthatmuch.

“Don’t be such a sourpuss,” Beth teases. “What I’m saying is despite all his flaws, Dario never cared about anyone like he cared about you. You can take that away from this.”

“I don’t know if that’s true,” I mumble.

“Believe what you want. Just... keep your eyes open. I know he felt differently about you than anyone else, and that doesn’t just go away.”

Is she right? He doesn’t act like hehatesme anymore, not like he did when all this started.

Does Dario want more out of this than I’m willing to give?

What does it matter if he does? I can’t trust him. Especially since he likely killed my father.

I hate keeping that from Beth, but I have to. The Contes are all close.

We finish eating and I stick to just one mimosa, wanting to stay clear.

“Where are you window shopping at next?” Beth asks, teasing me, and I laugh.

“Let’s go to that new boutique on the corner. I’ll buy a dress, see if they’ll loan me a few more bags so it looks like I spent a lot.”

Beth nods. She knows about my plan to hide money away until I’m able to leave Dario.

We make our way to the boutique and I find a backless, blue dress that makes my eyes pop and fits my curves well.

“Could I have a few extra bags?” I ask, and the saleswoman blinks but nods, handing me some extras.

I pile everything into Beth’s trunk, and we head back toward the house.

“You’re sure you don’t want to go back to my place? We can pick up Sonny and?—”

“Just let me do this, Beth, okay?” I plead. Beth sighs heavily but nods.

She doesn’t get out of the car when we arrive, just letting me take the bags out of the trunk before speeding away.

I watch her go. She’s probably mad at me, but she won’t be for long. Beth and I have always been close. She’ll come around.

I walk inside and hear Sonny giggling. I smile, putting the bags down in the living room. The sound is coming from out back, so Marie must have taken him to the pool.

I make my way out there and freeze when I see Dario, wearing a pair of swim trunks and nothing else, throwing my son into the pool.

Sonny comes up giggling, his floaties making him float instantly to the top.

“Again! Again!”

“Absolutely not,” I bark, stalking toward the pool. “You swim over to the edge, mister, we’re getting out.”

“No,” Sonny says sullenly. “M’having fun.”

“Come on, Li, let him play a bit longer,” Dario says, and I whirl around to face him.

“Where’s Marie?”

“She had an emergency. I didn’t want to bother you and I didn’t have work, so I said I’d take him to the pool until you got back.”